1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a toilet stool used in a sitting posture, particular a toilet stool suitable for the elderly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
This kind of toilet stool is disclosed in Japan Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-189320.
With the conventional toilet stool, water is previously sprayed to a part of inner surface of the toilet stool before relieving oneself. This prevents stool from adhering to the surface of the toilet stool.
Further, after relieving oneself, flush of large amount of water washes away stool as well as cleans the inner surface of the toilet stool.
Remaining stool after flushing the toilet, however, cannot be removed.
In particular, elderly persons are prone to make a toilet stool dirty in relieving oneself. Moreover, such elderly persons have no physical strength to clean the toilet.
Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a toilet stool that can be used comfortably without cleaning.
A toilet stool of the present invention comprises a main body, a seat, a cover, an injection means and a control means. The main body enables stool to be reserved therein temporarily. The seat is provided on the main body. The cover performs opening and closing operations by rotating about a horizontal axis with respect to the main body. The injection means perform a cleaning operation by injecting pressure liquid for cleaning. The control means causes the injection means to perform the cleaning operation on the condition that the cover is closed.
In cleaning the toilet stool, firstly, an opening of the toilet stool is closed by the cover. Secondly, when the cleaning operation is triggered, the liquid for cleaning is injected into the main body and the top surface of the seat, thereby cleaning the toilet stool.
According to the present invention, the cleaning operation is performed provided that the cover is closed with a locked condition. Therefore, there is no possibility that cleaning water or liquid will be splashed on the user, resulting in a water-soaked toilet room.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the injection means is formed on the inner surface of the cover. According to this embodiment, as the injection means can be provided at a clean and high position, it is possible to clean the seat for sitting down.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a first nozzle and a second nozzle are provided as the injection means. According to this embodiment, the first nozzle injects liquid to the inside of the main body, while the second nozzle injects liquid to the top surface of the seat, so that each part of the toilet stool can be cleaned for sure.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is controlled so that the injection of liquid from the second nozzle is finished following the finish of the injection of liquid from the first nozzle. According to this embodiment, after the relatively dirty main body has been cleaned, smudge spattered on other parts due to the cleaning of the main body can be removed by liquid from the second nozzle.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second nozzle is provided so as to rotate by the liquid pressure. According to this embodiment, the rotation of the second nozzle enables liquid to fly in many directions. Moreover, as it is no need to supply an driving force for rotating the second nozzle additionally, cost-reduction can be achieved.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a decompression valve is connected to the second nozzle and liquid pressure is reduced so that discharge pressure of liquid injected from the second nozzle is smaller than that of liquid injected from the first nozzle. The second nozzle serves a function of washing away the dirt on the seat and does not require such a large pressure as the first nozzle requires. Also, as the discharge pressure of the second nozzle is smaller than that of the first nozzle, leak due to excessive pressure can be prevented.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is controlled so that liquid pressure reduced by the decompression valve is gradually increased during injection. In this embodiment, the decompressed liquid injected from the second nozzle cleans whole of the toilet stool. And then, by increasing the discharge pressure by degrees, the liquid injected from the nozzle hits against the seat and cleans the upper part of the toilet stool following the cleaning of the whole toilet stool. Thus, the seat to be kept cleaner can be intensively cleaned.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of the second nozzles is provided so that one second nozzle cleans other second nozzles. In this embodiment, the second nozzles are always kept clean by cleaning each other.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the seat is elevated or lowered depending on the type of users or users identified by identification means. In this embodiment, after identification of the type of users and so on, the seat can be stopped at the height on the basis of the type of users, etc. in elevating or lowering the seat and therefore the toilet stool becomes very convenient to use for each user.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, after the user sits down, the seat starts lowering and if it is determined that the user""s sitting condition is stable, the seat continues to lower. On the other hand, if it is determined that the user""s sitting condition is unstable, the seat lowers at a slower speed or stops lowering. In this embodiment, the seat is lowered at the speed according to users"" muscular strength in their lower body.